Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy left the country suddenly on the eve of the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebration.

The reason as informed by his press secretary - Chan was on a two-week leave to seek medical treatment in Australia.

His abrupt departure soon caused the rumour mill to work overtime. Top BN leaders including Deputy Premier Najib Tun Razak and MCA president Ong Ka Ting had to appeal to the media not to speculate on Chan's absence.

However, top-selling Chinese daily Sin Chew Daily decided to carry a frontpage report on the matter yesterday in what is seen as the most prominent story so far on Chan's movement over the past 10 days.

The report said the minister has resigned, adding that Chan handed in his resignation letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi without the knowledge of key MCA leaders, including Ong.

According to Sin Chew's brief news report, Chan's resignation was due to 'work, personal and health reasons' but apparently changed his mind after being persuaded by top MCA leaders, of which he is deputy president.

Malaysiakini learnt that the minister's resignation was riddled with strong political undercurrents.

Sources told malaysiakini that Chan's resignation was primarily attributed to the RM4.6 million scandal surrounding Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), a problem inherited from his predecessor Dr Ling Liong Sik.

It is also learnt that Chan was unhappy with the Prime Minister's Department handling of the matter, particularly from a group of bureaucrats better known as the 'Fourth Floor' operatives, who are key aides of Abdullah.

Apparently, Chan felt that he was unfairly being blamed for the scandal.

Various accounts

Umno leaders, however, have tried to play down the matter.

Some cited health reasons for Chan's sudden leave of absence, while one senior minister even went as far as telling reporters that Chan fell sick after seeing too many corpses during his last month's visit to the scene of a horrific bus accident in Bukit Gantang, Perak.

Sources close to Chan, however, have denied the Sin Chew report.

They claimed that Chan was in relatively good condition and was taking a break with his wife and children in Australia. Moreover, he was in constant contact with his subordinates at the Transport Ministry.

Political observers believe that news of Chan's resignation on the day Abdullah was due to table his budget speech was no mere coincidence.

It appears that the report in Sin Chew Daily, a paper closely aligned to the MCA president, could be interpreted as a bargaining chip to be used against Umno.

MCA vs Umno

Such practices of 'tendering resignation' are not new.

Dr Ling had done the same thing in 2000 through an undated resignation letter to then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over Umno policies which negatively affected the MCA's support base.

MCA appears to be in the same situation today. Several incidents involving Umno leaders have led to MCA's political position being weakened.

These incidents include the Islamic state declarations, the racially inflammatory remarks by Umno leaders, the attack on Muar student Wee Meng Chee which has irked the Chinese community.

MCA leaders feel that they have been disadvantaged by Umno and the party is struggling to secure their support among the Chinese community.

Signs of frustrations were even more apparent when some of their younger members even went to the extend of calling for the party to withdraw from the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition during the recent MCA annual assembly.

Hanging on a thread

Thus, Chan's abrupt decision to resign before the Merdeka celebration and subsequent news report on his purported resignation is likely to serve as a wake-up call to Umno.

"We are Umno's partners. Lately, they are getting a bit carried away in a bid to seek political mileage and we're suffering in the process," said a MCA source.

Should Abdullah accept Chan's resignation, it would signal that something is indeed boiling out of the PKFZ scandal, which would require the minister to bow out.

The PKFZ scandal has been touted as Abdullah's first mega-bailout since 2003.

But the government has thus far refused to equate its RM4.6 billion 'soft loan' to the troubled company as a bailout.

Another observer, however, said Chan's resignation ploy was an act of silent protest as well as a bid to disassociate himself from scandal.

By all accounts, the length of Chan's sudden leave and whether Abdullah's Umno would give in to MCA will serve as an indication as to who has the upper hand in the latest power play between the Chinese-based party and it Malay-based counterpart.


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